Riflessi politici della dottrina frenologica in Europa: l’utopia di una profilassi morale della società

Political reflections of phrenological doctrine in Europe: the utopia of a moral prophylaxis of society

Abstract

In the first half of the nineteenth century, phrenology achieved resounding success throughout Europe. By postulating the innate character of the cerebral structure as well as the presence in the brain of specific cortical areas (each related to a distinct faculty) and locating the skull as the anatomical mold of these (whose results could detect the inclinations of individuals), it was possible to envision – in an unprecedented overlap of relationships between physics and morality, anatomy and ethics – an hypothesis of an effective action of moral prophylaxis that, scientifically guided by the analysis of trends and individual abilities, turned out as capable to improve the destinies of the individual as well as of the society as a whole.